saintjohnbarleycorn

Has anyone found a good place to get it? I did a search and if you live in china or pakistan its no problem, but here is seems to be bulk only. thanks.

If you can't get to that heat, you can't do it. So your first quest is to get the forge together that you need. Maybe you are putting the cart before the horse. Once you have the billet you will need to work it and if you are making damascus you will need to forge weld it more than just once. So you will also need hammer skills. I am not sure how much experience you have, but if you don't have a lot start with something a little easier. Make some knives from different types of steel, look in on the knife making forum on this site. You will have a lot of fun working your way up to a cable knife. enjoy, kevin

if you are having a hard time starting it, use some wood scraps, pieces of 2x4 spilt thin the good wood fire will get the coke going very quickly. kevin

Don't give up on the first shop you try, also look for heavy equipment operations, that fix their own stuff, I got a great bunch of stuff for free. I went to one place and they wanted $1 a pound for scrap, I put about five things on the scale and it was 20 pounds. I looked at what I got and thought " I could buy this stuff new for this price (almost)" so I said no thanks. They get about $5 a hundred pounds at the junk yard, so keep that in mind. kevin

I think regular concrete is around a ton per yard, the light crete I got was 1200 or so a yard, maybe 1500 so still a lot of weight. just keep that in mind when planning.

well I am not expert on this, but the coke I bought, I didn't have any trouble at all. it should burn hotter with not more air than regular coal. At least it doesn't seem to need that much more, if I want a hot fire I have to crank more on regular coal also.

that looks good, I especially like the face in it. good work.

The thing I found out is it is easy to hurt yourself. No matter what you are doing. When you are young you get a lot more leeway and also heal faster. I find that it is important to focus on what you are doing, after time it probably come natural, but if you don't have a lot of time on the hammer, you mind will wander a bit and that is where the trouble comes in. Also trying to do more than you should or longer. Work your way up to it, and what everyone else said here also. kevin

I think with the influx of so much chinese steel you won't have any clue as to what you are getting any more.

yes I would think that the frying pan method would work also.

you may need to make another burner, I can't really picture what you have, they can be made fairly cheap, there are lots of places on the net to find specific directions. If you have a picture you can post here of your burner it would help. Are you using propane? welcome to the IF.

is there someone in central ma. that sells coke? thanks. I am heading up that way over easter.

thanks, I am working on some things and this will be a good way to get in my head. I don't have the time in the forge to visualize what I am wanting or how to make it happen yet. kevin

I have heard people talk about modeling clay being like steel and working it the same way. do they mean acutally hitting it with a hammer or just working it with your hands. thanks for clearing this up. kevin

the pea gravel is about 4" or so and yes you don't have to sweep, just rake or kick with feet. and the anvil is on a post that is in the ground and the pea gravel is around it. It was also much cheaper than concrete.

the people I know who work copper cold wear a mask, for the copper dust.

I took out my cement floor around the forge and anvil and replaced it with pea gravel, it works great. You can change the height of the floor where needed. I have it lowest at the forge higher at the anvil and higher still at the post vise. By kicking some stones here and there I can change the height ratio at any time. Plus its very nice on the feet and fireproof.

this one is for sale for $250, so I thought for the price it might be a good buy. Otherwise I would go with something else. thanks for the replies

thats a cliff carol 125# Cliff Carroll

Is this anvil suited for blacksmithing or is it more towards a horseshoeing anvil. I know its made and sold for horseshoeing, but I guess my question is it also well suited for general blacksmithing. thanks if you have one or know of someone who does. kevin

I think enco has the thread fairly cheap.

I use gloves all the time from electrical work to gardening and balcksmiting, learned how to work with them I guess. I play stringed instruments and don't need callouses, cuts burns etc.

it doesn't have to be air tight so no explosion problem

thanks, the mailbox idea is a good one, and not to hard to make I have some thin steel thats thick enough to weld. Ok so if I want two 3/4" burners what dimensions would you suggest that I make the mailbox? thanks for the info I have been on the doorstep of making one for the last two months now and I think this last part of the puzzle will do the trick! Looking forward to trying some forge welding when it is up and running.

Just a thought here, I put a burner in an old burnt out gasser. What I found out was when I was using it and doing some bending and forming I wanted the gasser wider than taller. Lets say you make a scroll or an s shape, its thin and wide. I was doing tow or three at a time and saw that a wide front opening would be really handy. I was thinking of the tube type of gasser but actually using one I think a rectangle is better suited to forging. I know round is easier in a lot of ways, pre made even. I have a lot of things I could make a round one out of ready to go. but I think I will go to the trouble of making it squarish. Maybe the beehive style?